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Thursday, September 26, 2013

Hello!! Thank you all for your comments and emails after my last post, and for all the good thoughts and prayers. I am happy to be able to say that our daughter is much improved, and pretty much back to life as usual. It was a stressful time for all of us. Any of you who have children know that you are only as well as your sickest child, and no matter the age, watching your child suffer just makes your heart hurt. When I was young, I used to wonder why my mom prayed so much, with such constancy. As a mom, I know. I have one child; my mom had six, so she always had novenas going!

I needed to sew something non-taxing and fun while the stress was high, so I whipped up a couple of makeup brush rolls. Recently I had purchased a nice set of makeup brushes for my daughter, and thought it would be nice for both of us to have a roll up case for traveling. After reading the myriad of tutorials on line, I used this tutorial at Sew 4 Home. It was a good tutorial, although if you are very new to sewing, you may need more detailed instructions. My favorite part about the tutorial was the part about using waxed paper to draw your lines on and then sew through to get the individual pockets.

Fabric was purchased from Hancock's Fabrics - the dot fabric is laminated cotton (wipes clean), the only choice they had in store. The green and black are quilting cottons, and I used cotton batting between the laminate and the black fabrics. I made double fold bias tape out of the green fabric. The brush rolls are so similar, I decided to add black grosgrain ribbon as ties to mine to distinguish between the two. I customized the pockets in mine to accommodate my particular brushes. The open brush roll above is my daughter's - the pink arrow shows where I shortened one of the pockets by sewing horizontally. The eyeliner brush is a shortie, and otherwise would get lost in the pocket.

The dotty laminate fabric is a bit crooked, oh well! This was a fun little project, and the closest I have come to quilting. I would like to make another set of these with more 'sophisticated' fabric choices when I find a suitable laminated cotton, and may make some as gifts in the future. Overall, my daughter and I both like these rolls a lot; they will keep our brushes organized while traveling.

On another note, I lost another 20 pounds over the summer, so literally nothing fits, except a couple things I recently purchased. Out of all the clothes that I've made, I only have two tops that are still wearable. The plan is to formulate a plan - not my usual m.o., but necessary right now as I need to replenish the basics. I'll be back soon with something to wear.

Sunday, September 1, 2013

This summer my little blog has suffered from a lack of attention from moi. It was a busy summer for me and my family. The busy summer was good busy and fun busy, exciting times looking at colleges, traveling, and spending time with my girl. Spending time with family and our fun little nieces and nephew.

Two weeks ago fun summer ended and school began, senior year for our daughter. Along with the beginning of school and her birthday came something much less welcome. Our daughter started a new medication which caused a type of meningitis - a noninfectious type. The first two weeks of school have been hell for her - she is very stressed - AP classes, college apps, etc. What we don't know is how long it will take for the inflammation and symptoms to subside.

So for the time being, my focus is helping my daughter through this trying time. My sewing machines and the blog will gather some more dust. When life is back to 'normal', I'll be back. If you're the praying type, please keep my girl in your prayers.

About Me

Hello, I'm glad you found your way here. I hope you enjoy your visit. I blog primarily about sewing (mostly garments, a little home dec), with occasional cooking and life thrown in the mix. Want to reach me? My email is satinbirddesigns (at) gmail (dot) com. Thanks for stopping by. ~ Andrea